Corporates Can 'Donate-A Car'

Corporate and business vehicles will be one of the targets of the first Victorian-based charity to introduce “Donate-A-Car” as a major fundraising tool while offering significant tax benefits.

Kids Under Cover used the recent 2006 Melbourne International Motor Show to launch its national “Donate-A-Car” program – adapted from the highly successful US model which has seen $US390 million worth of cars donated to charities across the country.

Kids Under Cover (KUC) CEO Petrina Dorrington says the program is a fast and easy way to make a significant contribution to the work of KUC and in return donors obtain a tax deduction.

Kids Under Cover builds houses and bungalows for homeless and at-risk young people. Since inception in 1989, Kids Under Cover has built in excess of 200 homes. Its founder is Melbourne car dealer Ken Morgan.

In Western Australia, Westcare Industries set up a “Donate-A-Car” program to help local people with disabilities in early 2005. (www.donateacar.com.au)

Vehicle donation programs have been an established fundraising opportunity in the US for decades with anything between 400,000 and 1 million cars being donated to charity each year.

Petrina Dorrington says the program eliminates the hassles of selling cars privately and if the car is valued at over $5000, the Australian Tax Office allows a full tax deduction.

She says it is as simple as making a call to Kids Under Cover and signing over ownership.

Here’s how it works:

1. Contact Kids Under Cover on 1800 801 633 or obtain a form from the KUC website at www.kuc.org.au.

2.A Kids Under Cover representative explains the process and provides the paperwork. There are three forms that require completion by the donor:
a. Request for Valuation – this form authorises the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to value the car. It is this valuation that is used to determine the tax deduction the donor receives.
b. Certificate of Donation – this form formally transfers ownership to Kids Under Cover and is required by the ATO.
c. Vehicle Registration Transfer – this document informs VicRoads of the transfer of ownership

3. Kids Under Cover arranges a roadworthy certificate and collection of the vehicle with a towing service at no cost to the donor. The car is sold via a car dealership or an auction house.

4. ATO sends a tax deductible receipt to the donor.

Dorrington has recently returned to Australia after taking part in an overseas study tour funded by SEEEN (Social Economy Executive Education Network) and the Shane Warne Foundation which took her to the US and the UK.

The executive program is designed for Not for Profit leaders striving for best practice on an international level.

She says during that study tour she investigated the ‘donate-a-car’ program set up by Habitat for Humanity which is collecting about $100,000 a year from the proceeds.

She says even though the program is still in its trial phase she will be lobbying the Federal Government to lower the taxation threshold from $5000 to $2000 to allow more people to donate their cars to charity.

In the US donors can receive a tax benefit for cars valued at as little as $US500.

Kids Under Cover is keen to keep the process simple and fast.

For more information call 03 9429 7444.